The Audition – Great Danger
Record Label: Victory Records
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Before I was who I am now, I was a college freshman. That kid used to wear a brown Matchbook Romance shirt because he thought it put off a slightly aloof, very serial killer-ish vibe. He was also skinny. But this kid had a conversation with another kid, a kid in much skinnier jeans and much oilier skin, which held a lot of truth. The talk revolved around me being a stupid douche who held bands like babies, gently cupping them in my bosom so you, the mouth-breathing masses, could not get to them. This was why, the oily kid posited, I tended to always like the first record of a band and hate the second. It was because the second album typically brought greater success. All this silly snobbery, I remind you, from a kid in a brown Matchbook Romance shirt.
I’d like to think I’ve changed. In an Internet age such as this, there’s no secret collection of bands. And if there is, the bands are probably horseshit. Everything good is known. Anything great is super known. The Audition had a debut with songs I felt were insurmountable (especially “You’ve Made Us Conscious”). Therefore, people who didn’t wear Matchbook Romance shirts started to take notice. The band grew, and despite every bone in my body wanting to hate their third effort Self-Titled Album, I loved it. Although lyrically grounded in the minutiae of, blah, relationships and “making it”, its hyper aesthetic was welcomed and addictive.
But I am confident when I say that Great Danger is the band’s strongest output to date. It succinctly puts all their cards on the table, but does so in a way that artfully toes the dreaded line of recycled tunes. Sometimes a band has to perfect what they do before they can really move on, and at this point I’d be fine with The Audition coming back as a folktronica band. Great Danger is one big pop hit after another, from single “You Ruined This” to aggressive “He’s All You Want” to the hints of dance-punk intertwined throughout opener “Let Me Know.” The whole album plays like a lecture to the million other bands who do this pop-punk style. And after a few listens the message becomes clear, “Checkmate.”
Now yes, you won’t be surprised to hear that Great Danger features a couple attempts at that which isn’t the best for the band: “Run Away” is boring, acoustic and insincere when compared to fast-paced fist-pumpers like “Can You Remember?.” Closer “Final Adventure” is a strange mixture of Angels & Airwaves and, I don’t know, something worse than Angels & Airwaves. But that’s what I’m talking about: now that they’ve graduated from pop-punk, these can be the things they work out next. Maybe the band has it in them to create a concept album using harmonicas. Perhaps production by Machine will turn a song like “Ms. Crumby” into the perfect soundtrack morsel for the (probably) forthcoming Terminator: End Date 2; The End of Dates. Who knows, but at least their options are open. The band should be proud of this lofty accomplishment. Great Danger really is like listening to the top of a mountain peak.
Recommended If You Like: The All-American Rejects, Amber Pacific, tilde, All Time Low, lassos
what did you think about paragraph 3? I was worried about paragraph 3.
I enjoyed it, made me even more excited to hear the album. I loved the last two sentences the most... The whole album plays like a lecture to the million other bands who do this pop-punk style. And after a few listens the message becomes clear, “Checkmate.”
I have major respect for The Audition because they always seem to stay true to themselves and have never followed a trend, they just make music that they truly love.
Honestly never heard of them (I know, I know, the rock I live under is bigger than I thought), read this review, checked out their myspace, and I dig it. Will most likely be purchasing this and getting their other stuff too. What should I start with?
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